Apparatus for treating yarn, thread, ribbons and the like elongated material capableof being stretched



May 8, 1962 H. FLEISSNER 3,032,356

APPARATUS FOR TREATING YARN, THREAD, RIBBONS AND THE LIKE ELONGATEDMATERIAL CAPABLE OF BEING STRETCHED Filed Dec. 10, 1959 United StatesThe present invention relates to apparatus for treating, as by washing,drying, drawing, shrinking, fixing, etc. fiber ribbons or continuousfilament yarns, hereinafter referred to as cables or spinning cables(that is, uncut filament yarns or cables as they are discharged from thespinning nozzle) particularly fully synthetic material.

Washing units are used for washing, drying, drawing and fixing endlessribbons of fibrous material wherein the ribbons must be first threadedby hand and thereafter are conducted by hand to drawing rolls. Thesedrawing rolls are arranged either in heated chambers kept at very hightemperatures or the rolls are heated from the inside with steam and theribbons are thus brought to the temperatures necessary for a drawingoperation.

It is very difiicult to feed endless ribbons or filament yarns to theserolls into hot chambers.

Since the rolls tend to wind and bulge, it is very difiicult, due to thehigh temperatures, to keep the internally heated rolls clean.Subsequently all fibers are drawn or elongated by dual, triple orquintuple delivery units. After drawing, the fibrous threads are fixedat high temperature.

Each time that the apparatus is started, all these operations must beperformed by hand and any additional ribbon, that is to be suppliedlater, must also be introduced by hand into all units or machines. Theseoperations are very time consuming and, to a great extent, jeopardizethe continuous operation of the fiber trains. Since these fiber trainsmust work for Weeks in continuous operation without interruption, anydisturbance and any stoppage results in high expenses.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide meansconducive to an automatic and controlled performance of all theaforesaid operations.

The cables are introduced or fed at the inlet to washbath means andtravel completely automatically through the washing apparatus and thedrier.

In order to be able to also make the drawing process automatic, specialscreen drums having special drives are provided. For this purpose aheating zone is attached to the drier. The material to be processed isconducted over screen drums and brought to the drawing drums, completelyand uniformly heated by air current.

Pursuant to another object of the present invention, one-sided heatingof the fiber ribbons, as was the case with prior art internally heateddrawing rolls, is avoided whereby the quality of the materials to bedrawn is substantially improved.

In this connection, it is a further object to provide means obviatingthe necessity to overheat the outer surfaces of the fiber ribbons beforethe desired temperature is attained in the interior of the fiberribbons.

Due to'this measure it is possible to automatize the entire operation,because the ribbons are now automatically taken over by the drums.

Since great stresses develop during the drawing operation, it isnecessary to increase the thickness of the screen drums and particularlyto smooth the surfaces thereof. All drives for these drums must bevariable and they must be sturdy.

Provision is made for a drawing compartment which Patented May 8, 1962is followed by a cooling compartment. The thermoplastic fibrousmaterial, which is rendered plastic in the drawing compartment, isreturned to the solid state in the cooling compartment. After thedrawing operation the fibers are again heated, while stress-free, andare fixed. These operations are also carried out on screen drums and thefibers can be applied thereto in a completely relaxed and stress-freecondition, due to regulation of the speed of the drums.

The function of the fixing operation is to keep the fibers in theirrequired form. The danger that they will contract again is therebyobviated. The difference between drawing and fixing is that in drawingthe fibers are subjected to stress and their diameters are reduced bydrawing to about one-fifth of normal. However, in the fixing operationthe fiber is heated in a stress-free condition.

It is another object of the present invention to provide means resultingin the completely automatic guidance of the fiber ribbons or filamentyarns, without any winding during the drawing process.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide meansafiording drawing, shrinking, fixing of the fibers with temperatureswhich can be kept much lower than in prior art heated rolls. Thisresults in a greater protection of the fibers.

The drums can also have a grooved surface provided with perforations.Individual drums can be equipped with a free-wheeling system to adjustthem to a velocity increase caused by the drawing operation. It ispossible to disconnect the free-wheeling system.

These and other objects of the invention will become further apparentfrom the following detailed description, reference being made to theaccompanying drawings, showing preferred embodiments of the invention.

In the drawings which illustrate the best mode presently contemplatedfor carrying out the invention:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view in elevation, partly in section, of anapparatus pursuant to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus, with a portion thereofbroken away for purposes of clarity.

- Referring now to the drawings in detail, there is shown a somewhatschematic representation of an apparatus 30, pursuant to the presentinvention, for treating fibrous material such as, for example, continuosfilament yarns, to effect washing, drying, drawing and shrinking thereofin a tandem arrangement.

The fibrous material 9, which is to be treated by the apparatus of thepresent invention is introduced thereinto at the inlet E, as shown bythe arrow 31.

At the inlet E the material 9 is engaged initially by a pair ofcompanion feed rolls 11 from which it is fed to an endless belt conveyordevice 2 which delivers the material to a wash bath 4a. The wash bath 4aconsists of screen drum 3 operable in a wash trough 4 provided with asiutable wash fluid.

A pair of cooperating squeeze rollers 6-6 are located behind the washbath 4a, in the direction of travel of the material 9. An endless beltconveyor 5 carries the material from the wash bath 4a to the squeezerollers which remove the wash liquid from the material.

From the squeeze rollers 6, the material is conducted over a duckboardor latticework 7to a drying apparatus 30 by means of deflecting feedrolls 88, the inlet to said apparatus being indicated at 33. Theapparatus 30 is provided with a housing 18 which is divided bypartitions 19 into four zones or compartments designated 14, 15, i6 and17, respectively.

The partitions. are provided with central slots as so that the material9 can pass therethrough. The compartment or chamber 14 constitutes aheating chamber, suitable aosaese means (not illustrated) being providedto effect a heated air current flow therein.

A pair of screen or perforated drums 1t} and a is provided incompartment 14. The material 9 is carried under drum 10 and over drum10a to effect the drying ofthe material by hot air current flow.

The compartment comprises a drawing zone having the screen or perforateddrums 11 and 11a. The material passes through the slot 34 of thepartition 19 common to chambers 14 and 15 passing under drum 1i and overdrum 110.

During the drawing operation, which is accomplished between drums 11 and11a, the heated fibers are stretched and the diameter is reduced tosubstantially one-fifth of the prior diameter. This requires thick-walldrums having a particularly smooth surface. The drums 11-11a havea-variable drive so that their relative rotational speeds can beregulated. Due to the arrangement of the screen drums 10-10a and 1111a,the material 9 can be both dried and heated uniformly from the insideand the outside, warm air passing through the perforated or screendrums.

From. the drawing compartment 15, the material passes into the coolingcompartment 16 through the corresponding slot 34 in the partition 19common to the drawing and cooling compartments. In the coolingcompartment 16, the air temperature is lower than in the precedingcornpartments so that the material, which had been renderedthermoplastic in zones 14 and 15, again reverts in compartment 16 to asolid or non-plastic state or condition. The material thereafter passesinto the last chamber 17 which is a fixing or shrinking zone. Here thefibers are fixed in their required form. This is effected by heating thefibers, in a stress-free condition, as they pass under and over thescreen drums 1313 of the shrinking chamber 17.

The drive for all the screen drums is elfected by a motor 21 whichdrives a transmission shaft 22 journalled in a support or bracket 24-associated with each drum. A variable speed transmission 25, providedfor each drum, permits adjustment of the speed of rotation thereof.

Provision is also made for an exhaust fan for each drum.

As the material leaves the fixing chamber 17, it moves through theoutlet A, in the direction of arrow 134 by discharge rolls 26 which moveit onto an endless belt conveyor 27.

If desired, companion take-up and drawing rolls may be interposedbetween the rolls 3 and 6 to keep the material under any desiredtension.

Various changes and modifications may be made without departing from thespirit and scope of the present invention and it is intended that suchobvious changes and modifications be embraced by the annexed claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent, is:

1. Apparatus for treating coherent yarns, threads, ribbons and the likeelongated material capable of being stretched, comprising incombination:. a housing, partitioning means for partitioning each ofsaid housing into at least four adjacent compartments, rotatable feedmeans in each of said compartments, saidrotatable feed means cooperatingwith each other so as to continuously advance.

the elongated material through said compartments, means for heating saidmaterial in the first of said compartments, 6

said rotatable means in the second of said compartments comprising apair of speed adjustable screen drums for stretching the material, meansfor cooling said material in the third of said compartments, and meansfor fixing said material in the fourth of said compartments;

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotatable feed means inthe first of said compartments comprises two closely adjacent screendrums.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotatable feed means insaidthird compartment comprises two closely adjacent screen drums.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said rotatable feed means insaid fourth compartment comprises two closely adjacent screen drums.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotatable feed means ineach of said compartments comprises two closely adjacent screen drumsdriven from a common drive.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein said screen drums in saidsecond compartment have smooth surfaces.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotat able feed means ineach of said compartments comprises,

two closely adjacent screen drums, said screen drums in said secondcompartment adapted to stretch the material having a smooth thick-Walledsurface.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotatable feed means ineach of said compartments comprisesv two closely adjacent screen drums,and means to vary the speed of rotation of said screen drums.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising washing means forwashing said material before entering said first compartment, and meansfor feeding said washed material from said washing means to the feedmeans in said first compartment.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein squeezing means arearranged between said washing means and said first compartment forsqueezing liquid from said washed material.

11. Apparatus for treating coherent yarns, threads, ribbons and the likeelongated material capable of being stretched, comprising incombination: a housing, partitioning means for partitioning said housinginto at least four communicating adjacent chambers, a pair of closelyadjacent screen drums in the first of said chambers, means for heatingsaid first chamber, a pair of closely adjacent screen drums in saidsecond chamber, a pair of closely adjacent screen drums in said thirdchamber, cooling means for cooling said third chamber, a pair of.closely adjacent screen drums in said fourth chamber, means forheatingsaid fourth chamber, all of said screen drums being speed adjustable andbeing driven from a common drive, said screen drums cooperating so thatmaterial entering the first of said chambers is conveyed by said screendrums in an undulating path through said four chambers to be heated insaid first chamber, to be stretched in said second chamber, to be cooledin said third chamber and to be fixed in said fourth chamber,

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 11, wherein washing means are arrangedadjacent said first chamber for washing the material prior to enteringsaid first chamber.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,383,510 Bailey July 5, 1921 1,594,394 Weston Aug. 3, 1926 2,846,752Lessig Aug. 12, 1958 2,922,229 Kiefer Jan. 26, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS173,275 Germany July 17, 1906 25,473 Great Britain 1907 195,399Switzerland Apr. 16, 1938

